End of the Turtles War
by WogglebugLover-AvengingAtheist
Summary: A conclusion to the series. After Baxter Stockman is restored to being human by the Turtles, he becomes their ally. Then all of the heroes from the show unite together to defeat every villain from the show in the final stage of their war.
1. Chapter 1

Baxter Stockman, a half man-half fly mutant, was flying around in a place only called nowhere and buzzing angrily as he searched for a way out though he seemed to be just flying around in circles as everything around was the same with nothing to show for it.

"I'll get back somehow!" he promised himself, buzzing furiously. "I'll get back and I'll have vengeance on that Shredder and those Turtles for what they've done to me! I swear it!"

Baxter had once been a human-being and also a scientist. Then he had joined the Shredder in his attempts to destroy the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and had been sent to Dimension X and after all of his many failed devices to eliminate the turtles the Dimension X leader Krang had decided to eliminate him. He had been placed into a vaporizing unit, however a fly had also gotten in it with him by accident and instead of being vaporized he had become cross-mutated with the fly. And ever since then he had wanted noting more than to have his revenge on those responsible for it, which he was sure the Shredder and also the Turtles.

Finally after all his searching he spotted a round circular swirling whirlpool in the atmosphere above him. _This is it, _he thought. _May be my only chance. _He flew at top speed toward the opening and flew through it. The next thing he knew he was back on Earth in New York City. He knew where he was as he could see all the tall buildings.

"Now to get back at those who turned me into a freak!" he declared. "Now I'll find those Turtles and they'll be sure to attract Shredder and I'll have revenge on the both of them if it's the last thing I ever do!"

He began his search flying just above the buildings and scanning the city with his huge red bulging eyes trying to find some trace of his sworn enemies.

Meanwhile in the Tecnodrome in Dimension X the Shredder and Krang were watching as Rocksteady and Bebop practice battling with each other.

Bebop jumped at Rocksteady and pushed him back hard. "Try that again, hog-breath!" he exclaimed as he run back and caught Bebop in a tight headlock.

The Shredder was really getting tired of watching these mutants fight like animals. "Alright! That is enough for today!" he exclaimed.

"Shredder," said Krang. "I am picking up something interesting on the monitor. You might like to see it."

The Shredder turned on the monitor of the surveillance camera in the Tecnodrome's super computer and he discovered to his astonishment, Baxter Stockman as he flew around New York City and terrorized the citizens.

"Well, would you like at that! Old Baxter is back in town!" he said. "I wonder what he's up to this time."

"He is probably out looking for the Turtles again so he can have his revenge," said Krang indifferently.

"But I want revenge on the Turtles!" exclaimed Shredder indignantly. "Hmm... He must want to find the Turtles to get to me next," the Shredder mused. "Well, we won't give him time to do that."

"Well, what are you going to do?" asked Krang sarcastically. "Convince Baxter we're his friends so he'll join our own demise of the Turtles?"

"Exactly!"declared Shredder smiling smugly behind his metal mask. "Make ready for our transportation! We've got ourselves a fly to catch!" he chuckled malevolently to himself.

"Oh! Some people never learn from their past and are doomed to repeat it!" Krang sighed with exasperated frustration.

Meanwhile in the Turtles underground lair the four ninja teens we're practicing their own combat amongst each other. They were watched by their wise sensei Master Splinter who was a mutant rat and was also once human.

"Alright, my turtles. That is enough for today," said Splinter. "You mustn't wear yourselves out. A battle can break out at any given time you must remember."

"We'll remember, Master Splinter," Leonardo assured him.

"Hey, look it's six o'clock!" exclaimed Raphael. "Time for the Happy Hour News with April O' Neil!"

"And with pizza!" exclaimed Michelangelo as he took out their warmed up pizzas form the microwave.

So the turtles and their master all sat on the couch with pizza on their laps and turned the television on to channel six. The image of April O' Neil the station's reporter and the turtles friend appeared on the screen.

"This is April O' Neil with Happy Hour News!" April announced. "Investigators strive to find out what is the cause of so many overturned dumpsters and garbage cans, as well as so many green houses being smashed in and candy stores being mysteriously robbed from. We do however have a few witnesses of the various crimes."

The scene shifted to a pale and disoriented looking older man wearing an apron who spoke into a microphone. "I was just sitting in the shop and minding my own business," the man said. "When suddenly I heard this loud buzzing noise and suddenly the glass door broke open and in flew this giant sized fly and he started smashing everything with his four arms and robbing me of my goods. I had heard of fly's in the sugar bowl but this was ridiculous!"

The scene then shifted back to April. "So who or what is this giant fly? Could it be a new wave of terrorist outfitting? Could it be..."

"It's Baxter Stockman!" the Turtles all exclaimed in unison.

"So that flying pest is back in town again!" said Michelangelo

"I wonder what he'll be up to this time," wondered Donatello.

"I just hope it isn't an army of all the flies in the world like last time," said Raphael.

"Well, whatever he'll be up to we know it must be because he wants revenge on us," said Leonardo.

"Why does he want revenge on us?" asked Michelangelo

"He believes we're responsible for the accident that happened that turned him into a fly mutant," Leonardo reminded them.

"But we're not!" exclaimed Michelangelo "It was all Shredder's fault. Shredder sent Baxter to Dimension X, we didn't!"

"I know, but try reasoning with a fly!" said Raphael sarcastically.

"You know," said Leonardo thoughtfully. "All Baxter Stockman really wants is to be human again."

"I can certainly emphasize with that," said Splinter reflectively.

"So," Leonardo continued. "Perhaps if we could turn him back into a human we could get him to join our side in defeating the Shredder."

Raphael gave a sarcastic laugh. "Even suppose we knew how to turn him back into a human, how could we get him to join our side when he's always been on Shredder's against us?"

"It's true he's been on Shredder's side for as long as we've known him," said Leonardo. "But do we know why he joined Shredder in the first place?"

"Um... No," the three turtles mumbled in unison.

"Well, maybe he thought he had no choice in joining Shredder," Leonardo continued reflectively. "After all, don't any of you remember how nervous he seemed around Shredder when he was still human?"

"Well, whether or not he joined Shredder of his own will I don't want to have anything to do with him after all he's tried to do to us!" declared Raphael. "He's evil, maybe not like Shredder is, but still evil."

"But didn't you ever think that maybe he is that way only because of what's happened to him?" asked Leonardo. "After all, you said that you can't reason with a fly but Baxter Stockman isn't really a fly, he's really a human inside."

"But Master Splinter was a human before he was a rat and we don't see him being a super-villain," countered Raphael.

"It is our choices, not our abilities, that define us," said Splinter.

"That's right," said Leonardo. "And I'm not even sure of this myself but there could still be a spark of human goodness deep inside of Baxter Stockman that is in a lot of pain now because of the accident that happened to him. After all, he never wanted to become a fly mutant in the first place."

The others all looked thoughtful for a few silent moments and then Splinter spoke up.

"There is something much stronger than hate and that is forgiveness. A single act of forgiveness might change the world for the better. And in this case I believe you are right, Leonardo my son."

"So," said Leonardo. "I propose we find Baxter Stockman and bring him here and turn him back into a human and then we may have hope of convincing him that Shredder is the one who is evil, not us or himself."

"But how can we turn him back into a human?" asked Raphael. "After all, the mutagen reversal gun was destroyed a long time ago."

"Well, Donatello," Leonardo turned to the turtle with the purple bands. "What do you propose?"

"Well, since he was cross mutated with a fly and now has the genes of both a fly and a man inside him I suppose I could find a way to debug him of his fly genes," said Donatello.

"Excellent!" said Leonardo. "So, Donny, you start to work on your new project while the rest of us go out and find that fly dude!"


	2. Chapter 2

The Turtles were flying above the city in the turtle copter scanning all the areas for a sign of Baxter Stockman. They could see the city was in much disarray below them.

"Man, look what he did to the place!" exclaimed Raphael.

"So where are we going to find this fly dude?"asked Michelangelo

"Well, think if you were a fly where would you want to go?" asked Leonardo.

"Hmm... Maybe like a garbage truck?" suggested Michelangelo

"Bingo!" exclaimed Leonardo.

They flew on until they found an enormous garbage truck parked near to Central Park. They also heard a loud buzzing noise and lowering themselves slightly they saw that it was none other than Baxter Stockman himself as he flew towards the garbage truck with all his arms outreached.

"There he is!" exclaimed Leonardo.

"It looks like he's gonna dump the truck!" exclaimed Raphael in horror. "Quick! The net!"

So the Turtles hovered directly over the garbage truck and unleashed a giant sized trapping net out of the wheels of the turtle copter and dropped it down onto Baxter Stockman just as he was about to contaminate the city.

Baxter began struggling in the net and buzzing almost as loudly as a chainsaw. He looked up and recognized the turtles in the turtle copter as they lifted him up as they were carrying him away. He was furious to be caught like this by his own enemies.

"How dare you, you amphibious double-crossing fiends!" he buzzed loudly as he shook all four of his fists at them. "I'll get you for this!"

"Calm down, fly boy," said Michelangelo "We're just taking you home with us so we can turn you back into a human."

"Don't you dare try tricking me like that!" yelled Baxter now angrier than ever.

"We aren't trying to trick you, Baxter," Leonardo assured him. "We really do want to help you."

"How can you want to help me? You're my enemies just as I am yours!" Baxter shouted with his red eyes blazing even redder.

"That may have been true in the past," said Leonardo. "But we'll be willing to forgive you if you'll only let us help you."

Baxter tried to think of another retort to get them with but found he couldn't. For somehow he could tell they were being sincere and he did want to be human again so much that he was willing to take whatever chance he could get.

* * *

Once they were back at their lair, the Turtles carried Baxter down to the sewer with his wings tied together to prevent his flying away. Then once they were in their quarters they brought him into Donatello's laboratory where the scientific-minded ninja turtle was just putting the finishing touches on his latest device.

"What are you going to do to me?" asked Baxter with a hint of fear in his voice.

"We told you," said Leonardo. "We are going to turn you into a human again. That's what you've been wanting isn't it?"

"Yes. But once again this had better not be one of your tricks," Baxter buzzed angrily.

"Baxter, we have never tricked you before," said Donatello. "We only ever fought you before because you started fighting us first, you and the Shredder."

Baxter felt his blood boil again at the mention of Shredder. "Shredder! He shall pay for everything he ever did and tried to do to me!"

"And we would like him to, too," agreed Leonardo. "And if we succeed in turning you back into a human we would like for you to join us in defeating the Shredder and all of his henchmen."

Baxter felt that the day he agreed to join a bunch of ninja-skilled turtle teens would be the day when he stopped being a scientist but then he wasn't sure he was one anymore for his new insect brain had been completely run with thoughts of a fly like eating sugar and spreading garbage everywhere, not to mention revenge on those who'd harmed him.

"What do you mean 'if' you succeed?" he asked unnerved.

"Well, we haven't ever tested this out," admitted Donatello. "But I'm sure I got the right calculations to eliminate your fly cells completely."

"You can trust Donatello," said Leonardo reassuringly. "He's the brains of our team and has never failed us before."

Baxter didn't like the idea of putting the trust of science in the hands of a mutant turtle but he nevertheless allowed himself to be strapped down onto the board and hooked up to all sorts of gadgetry some of which he was unfamiliar with which made him all the more nervous.

_Well,_ he decided, _if I don't survive this at least I'll be out of my misery._

Then all of the turtles put on protective masks over their eyes and Donatello began pressing a series of buttons on a controlling board and turning on switches that were connected to many of the gadgets that were plugged or hooked into Baxter.

"I don't think this will hurt... too much," said Donatello critically just before he pulled the last of the switches.

Then all at once Baxter felt a peculiar surge of electric shocks coursing all through his body which was followed by a blast of searing pain like nothing he had felt since he had been cross mutated with that fly so long ago. He remembered the shock of his insides becoming mutated along with his outsides and how his lab coat had been shredded under the growth of his giant fly wings and his extra pair of arms protruding out of his sides and his eyes bulging far beyond their capacity and his teeth seeming to be sucked way up into his gums. And now he seemed to experiencing that all over again except it seemed to happening in reverse and more slowly. He felt his wings shrinking, his second set of arms being pulled inward, his eyes being sucked inward, and his teeth pushing themselves downward. The worst sensation of all he felt was in his brain as his whole life seemed to be flashing through his mind's eye.

When at last the electric shocks stopped and the pain began to subside somewhat he opened his eyes and found his vision to be very blurry. Then as his vision began to clear he saw the Turtles standing around him with pleasant smiles on their faces.

"It worked," said Donatello softly.

"It sure did, Donny, it sure did," said Leonardo as he grasped his brother's hand.

Baxter wondered if he was hearing them right. It worked? Did that mean what he thought it meant? He no longer could hear himself buzzing, that was true. He looked down and to his astonishment he found his extra pair of fly arms were gone leaving behind two large holes in the sides of his vest and his regular hands had become human once again. He sat up slowly and glanced behind him and found his wings had vanished with only two large holes in the back of his vest to show they used to be there. He reached up to touch his face and he felt all of the regular features of a human face of eyes, nose, and mouth. He also felt his long wavy blonde hair which was quite dirty and messy now but was nevertheless back to how it used to be.

It was true, he was indeed human again.

What was more was he felt all the anger and desire for vengeance had also been vanquished. He now looked at the Turtles his heroes and saviors.

"Oh! You wonderful, brilliant, kindhearted turtles!" he exclaimed overwhelmed with emotion. "You have restored me to my true self! I don't know how I'll ever thank you enough! But why would you do this for me after I was such an awful nuisance to all of you?"

"Well, you see," said Leonardo. "We saw you were but only another one of the evil Shredder's victims and as our wise sensei is always telling us to look beyond appearances and to try see the good in everyone and to be forgiving of those who have good in them we just thought giving you back your humanity was the right thing to do."

Tears ran down Baxter's pale face. They were as much tears of joy as they were of regret. "Oh dear me! All those years I wasted trying to get revenge on you when all along I could have just turned to you for help! I don't know how I'll ever forgive myself."

"Well, you should, you know," said Michelangelo "After all the fly is gone and you're you again. And it must have been having the mindset of a fly that made you be so hateful and violent."

"But I was such a fool for joining the Shredder's side in the first place!" sobbed Baxter.

"And why did you join him anyway?" asked Leonardo. "We never knew."

Baxter wiped his eyes. "I had just invented a sure way to get rid of all rats but no one was interested in patenting my invention except the Shredder and I did not know at the time that he was up to no good so I agreed to everything he told me to do. And then when I was taken into that asylum and Shredder came and got me out I was so afraid to not do as he wanted of me that I tried to make myself just as evil and up to no good as he was."

"And you sure did a good job of it," muttered Raphael.

"Now I know I was wrong and I'm so ashamed of myself!" Baxter wailed putting his face in his hands. "I have disgraced the very name of science that I strived to live for! I am a failure of everything I ever tried to do!"

"That may have been true in the past," said Donatello gently. "But you can redeem yourself but working to improve what you do in the future."

"But how can I?" asked Baxter sniffling.

"You can help us get rid of the Shredder and thus put an end to his evil deeds," said Leonardo brightly.

"That would be nice if I could help you achieve that, I suppose," said Baxter. "But I wouldn't know where to start."

"Well, I can help you," said Donatello. "You wouldn't have become a scientist if you didn't have a bit of genius in you and if we put our heads together, you and I, we can come up with brilliant ideas for the forces of good."

Baxter smiled tremblingly. "I'd like that," he said. "And there is also someone else whom I'd like to reconcile my past with and hopefully start working with again."

"And who is that?" asked Donatello.

"My brother, Barney," replied Baxter.


	3. Chapter 3

Barney Stockman was in his private laboratory in his apartment working on his newest invention when suddenly he heard the sound of his front door being knocked on, even though he wasn't expecting any company today.

"Come in," he called out as he quickly left his lab.

He entered the living room just as the door was opened and in stepped four green-faced figures wearing long top coats and fedora hats. One of them stepped forward and spoke.

"Mr. Stockman. I don't know if you remember me but I'm Raphael and these are my brothers. We're the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles."

"Yes, I remember you very well," said Barney. "I'm not with Pinky McFingers anymore now if that's why you've come."

"No," replied Raphael. "We've come to reunite you with your brother. Come in, Baxter."

Baxter stepped meekly out from behind the turtles and into the doorway. "Hello, Barney," he said nervously. "Remember me?"

Barney stared at him in almost disbelief. "Baxter? Is it really you? The last I heard you had turned yourself into a fly when you botched one of your experiments."

"It seems you were somewhat misinformed," said Baxter. "I did turn into a fly. But I didn't do it to myself. To make a long story short I joined forces with the Shredder and he soon decided he had no use for me and so he tried to disintegrate me. But a fly got into the unit with me and I was cross-mutated with it."

"And now I see you've become human again," Barney continued. "But how?"

"It was all thanks to these four turtles you see," said Baxter nodding towards the Turtles around him. "They are my heroes now and I will serve only them and so I will aid them in their mission to defeat the evil Shredder. I have come to you to tell you I'm sorry for leaving you all those years ago and to ask you to join forces with me and the Turtles."

Barney looked indecisively at his brother. "Even suppose I was willing to join you again, why should I?" he asked.

"Because you must believe me when I say I am not the same man I was years ago when I abandoned you after that fight of insulting each other over my failure we had. I've learned from my past mistakes and I want to have a chance to prove that to you and to the world, Barney. Remember when we were kids and we did everything together and we did all our science projects together and passed the grade together and ended up getting our graduate degrees together and decided we would always be a team. Now I will admit it was my fault that we fell out and now I want to start over again if you'll only let us."

Barney looked into his brother's eyes as he was speaking and could see the sincerity of a new man in them and he had to admit he had missed his long-lost brother for many years. And now that he had admitted it was his fault for leaving he saw no reason not to give him another chance.

So he stepped forward and extending his hand saying, "Welcome back, bro."

Baxter smiled with relief and shook Barney's hand. Then unable to contain his emotion he threw his arms around him in a big brotherly embrace. "I missed you so much!" he said. The Turtles looked on smiling.

Then slowly Baxter broke the hug and turned back to the Turtles and said, "And now I wish to declare my repentance to the world. Do you know how I can do so?"

"Sure," said Leonardo. "We'll go see April O'Neil of channel six news and arrange for you to give a live announcement on the air."

"Oh dear. I don't think April O'Neil will like seeing me again," said Baxter disheartened.

"Don't worry," said Michelangelo "April is a good friend of ours and if we just talk to her I'm sure she'll accept you just as we have."

* * *

April and Irma were sitting in the foyer of April's apartment sipping coffee together.

"Gosh, April, the Turtles haven't called you in a while," said Irma. "I hope they're alright."

"There's no need to worry," April assured her friend. "I'm sure the Turtles can take care of anything, and besides I have a feeling we'll be seeing them soon."

Just then there was a knock on the door. Irma got up and went to answer it and found the Turtles standing there.

"Well, it looks like you were right, April," said Irma, somewhat amazed.

"It comes with knowing them for such a long time," replied April earnestly. "What can I do for you guys?"

"Well, it's not us who need your help now, April," said Michelangelo casually. "It's our friend."

It was at this moment that Baxter Stockman stepped out from behind the Turtles.

April looked completely shocked. "Baxter Stockman!? What in the world is he doing here?" she demanded. "And why is he not a fly anymore?" she added as an afterthought.

"We turned him back into a human again," said Raphael. "And he's not with the Shredder anymore, he's on our side now."

"Is he really?" asked April uneasily. "How can you be sure he isn't trying to trick you into being trapped by the Shredder again?" In her mind, April couldn't help but remember the time when Baxter had kidnapped her and tied to the City's clock tower until the Turtles came and rescued her.

"Please, Miss O'Neil," said Baxter appealing to her. "I beg you not to speak of my past actions against you and your friends. I am different now, you must believe me. I will have nothing to do with the evil Shredder or Krang or their mutant fiends. I only want to help the Turtles rid the world of his evil doings. And I have come to you because I want to declare my repentance publicly."

April looked into his eyes as he spoke and saw no reason to fear him now. She also remembered how she herself and once been turned into a mutant cat woman and it had made her go crazy and so she supposed Baxter really had had a life-changing experience.

"Alright, Mr. Stockman," she said. "I will arrange for you to announce your reformation on tonight's news."

"Thank you, Miss O'Neil," said Baxter very gratefully. "I promise you won't regret this."

"Would you like some coffee, Mr. Stockman," asked Irma.

"I would love some, thank you," he said. He hadn't drank coffee in so long he had forgotten how it tasted.

* * *

Later that evening the Turtles turned on the Happy Hour News and listened as April spoke.

"You may remember Baxter Stockman and his downfall from the scientific community many years ago. He claims to have had a life-changing experience that has altered his entire view of the world. He is here with us now live. "

The camera shifted and Baxter appeared on the screen as April held the microphone up to him.

"That is right, Miss O'Neil," he said. "I've done some wrong and foolish things in the past I wish I could take back. From now on I pledge to live my life with honesty, goodness, and generosity. Much thanks to this goes out to that most noble band known as the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, who, if they are watching this, I want to know I am forever in their debt and will do all I can to aid them in their fights against evil."


	4. Chapter 4

The next morning Baxter and Barney were out taking a stroll through the city and catching up with each other on what had happened with them during the time they had separated.

"Shredder called me all those nasty names," Baxter was saying. "He treated like an insect long before I became one. He was the meanest person you could ever meet. So mean, in fact, I don't think he can rightly be called a person. If I ever see him again it will be too soon."

"I'm also through with Pinky McFingers," Barney said. "He wasn't a nice guy either and I found out afterward how he was just using me and my scientific genius to take over the world. I'll never join someone who's credentials go against my better judgment ever again."

"Me neither," agreed Baxter. "And if Shredder were to come here right now I would tell him off and I'd..."

Just then the ground beneath them began to tremble violently. They watched in shock and horror as the street in front of them cracked and broke wide open within seconds and then there was a loud roaring of something big and metallic. Then out from the depths came up a module transporter which Baxter instantly recognized.

"Oh no! It's Shredder!" he exclaimed in abject horror.

"Are you sure it's him?" asked Barney fearfully.

"I'd know him anywhere," said Baxter. He reached into the pocket of his new lab coat and took out the turtle-com which the Turtles had given him in case of emergencies like this one. "Come in, Turtles," he said urgently. "Shredder just drove in."

No sooner had Baxter made this call then the door of the module opened and out stepped the Shredder with Rocksteady and Bebop on either side of him.

"Why, hello there Baxter," said the Shredder in a mockingly pleasant voice. "Nice to see you've become your old self again."

"Actually," said Barney. "My name is Barney. This is Baxter, he's my twin brother."

"Why, I didn't know you had a twin, Baxter," said the Shredder in surprise. "And I'm sure we'll find a use for him as well. After all two heads are better than one, even if they're both knuckleheads!" The Shredder gave a demented chuckle. "And now that you are human again, Baxter, you may prove useful to me again."

"I have no intention of joining you again, you evil, conniving metal-masked arch-nemesis!" Baxter exclaimed furiously. "You were never good to work for and now that my life is back on track I will work only for those who serve the forces of good in the Universe."

"That goes for me too," added Barney.

The Shredder looked momentarily stunned and then rage appeared in his beady eyes. "You don't mean to say you are actually planning to join forces with those blasted Turtles!"

"Yes, I do," said Baxter.

"But they were the ones responsible for what happened that turned you into a fly. Don't you remember?" the Shredder exclaimed incredulously.

"No, they weren't," said Baxter. "What happened to me was an accident that the Turtles had nothing to do with.. If anyone was to blame for it was you... and perhaps myself as I was a fool for joining you in the first place, and I won't make that mistake ever again."

"Baxter, I'm warning you," said the Shredder with his eyes blazing. "If you do not join me you shall perish along with the Turtles."

"I am willing to take that risk," said Baxter standing his ground.

"Then so be it!" the Shredder shouted as he reached behind him and pulled out what looked like a mini explosive device.

"Not so fast, Shred-head!" Raphael suddenly yelled out.

"What! Not the Turtles again!" the Shredder groaned irritably.

"Cowabunga!" Michelangelo yelled out as he and the other Turtles jumped down on top of the Shredder and his two mutants.

Raphael and Donatello threw some ninja kicks at Rocksteady and Bebop while Michelangelo and Leonardo wrestled to get the explosive out of the Shredder's hands. Finally the Shredder lost his grip on it and it was tossed forward and struck the ground heavily.

"Now look what you've done, you careless tortoises!" the Shredder shouted. "That was an explosive that goes off on impact!" Then he grabbed Rocksteady and Bebop and hurried with them into the module.

As Shredder made his escape underground the Turtles all took hold of the Stockman brothers and ran for cover. They hadn't run too far when they heard an enormous explosion from behind them and they all leaped down onto the concrete ground and put their arms over their heads. When the blast had ended and most of the smoke and debris had cleared they slowly got up and dusted themselves off.

"Shredder should know better than to play with dangerous explosives like those," said Donatello as he checked his shell for damage.

"But you can never tell him to fight fairly," said Raphael.

"Thanks for getting here just in time," Baxter said gratefully.

"Of course we did," said Leonardo. "We got your call and we took the shortest cut here. Now we'd better head home before they get back."

And so they did and they told Splinter what had happened.

"I fear that Shredder will soon be back again and more dangerous than ever," Splinter said. "I can sense him starting this activity as we speak."

"The Shredder has a means of finding out what's going on with us in this world, I just wish we could learn what is going on with him in his," said Michelangelo

"Yeah, and then we could plan a better strategy ahead of time," added Leonardo.

"Hmm... Maybe we can," said Barney thoughtfully.

"What do you mean?" asked Donatello.

"I mean that with the right coordinates I might be able to hook up this TV set to pick up airwaves from Shredder's Technodrome," said Barney.

"What a brilliant idea!" said Donatello. "And I'd be happy to help."

"And so would I," added Baxter.

And so Donatello and the Stockman brothers worked together all day and most of the night on fixing the TV set to pick up inter-dimensional airwaves. Finally they finished and searched until they found the channel that had Shredder and Krang on it.

"It works! It works!" exclaimed Baxter in victory.

"Guys, Master, come check it out! Shredder's on the tube!" called Donatello to the others.

Everyone rushed in and gathered around as they listened to the exchange between Shredder and Krang.

"Blast those pesky Turtles for getting to Baxter before I could!" Shredder cursed loudly.

"I tried to tell you that what's happened before seldom happens again. But did you listen to me? No!" Krang said scolding.

"Hmm... There must still be something I haven't yet tried to do... Something that is bound to not fail... The Shredder thought hard for a time and then his evil eyes lit up with triumph. "I've got it! The Turtles have faced me and many others many times in the past, but have very seldom faced them altogether, least of all all at the same time. And you know the phrase, 'United we stand, divided we fall'? Well, I have the connections to Planet Earth and Dimension X and many others by which to round up a whole armada of anti-turtle attackers to conquer the world and perhaps the Universe even!"

"Shredder, you never cease to amaze me with your unwavering perseverance," said Krang. "Are you certain there's no way the Turtles can win out this time?"

"Of course I am certain!" exclaimed the Shredder, offended by the questioning. "With my new armada of anti-turtlists the Turtles will become nothing but a big bowl of Turtle soup!" The Shredder laughed manically.

"Hmm... I just hope you realize that too many cooks spoils the broth," murmured Krang.

The Turtles, Splinter, and the Stockman brothers all stood in stunned silence as they had heard Shredder's new means of attacking them and the world. Finally Leonardo spoke.

"Well, if he is going to gather up all of those on his side then we should do the same!"

"Yeah, if it's a war he wants it's a war he'll get!" added Raphael.

"I don't like the sound of this," Baxter moaned fretfully.

"Don't worry, dude," said Michelangelo "We have friends and allies in many places, and many more than Shredder does and if we all work together we can win."

"The power of good is far stronger than the power of evil," added Splinter. "Even in times of great wars like the one I sense is about to start."


	5. Chapter 5

"I know just who can help us," said Leonardo. "There's Casey Jones."

"And Muckman," added Raphael.

"And let's not forget that awesome dude, Bugman!" added Michelangelo

"Or the Punk Frogs," added Donatello.

"I had no idea you had so many mutants on your side," said Baxter.

"Not everyone on our side is a mutant," Leonardo assured him. "Most of the human race of the city now knows we're good guys, thanks to April and her crew, and also Casey Jones."

"And you will always have your friends in high places," Splinter reminded them. "Remember the Neutrinos from Dimension X?"

"Oh yeah!" said Michelangelo "The dudes that are so cool they're frozen!"

"And there's also Usagi Yojimbo," added Splinter.

"Right," said Donatello. "We can call all of them on either our turtle-coms or the trans-dimensional portal."

"Let's call Usagi first," suggested Leonardo. "If any of our friends will be willing put up a good fight he will be."

"I don't understand. How is it you have a trans-dimensional teleporter like Shredder does?" asked Baxter, still trying to take in all of this new information.

"Well, it isn't exactly like Shredder's," said Donatello. "I constructed it myself after working on it for three years and it isn't always reliable because if there is any conflict between time and space the portal is liable to send someone from the wrong dimension to us which was just how we met Usagi Yojimbo."

"And who is Usagi Yojimbo," asked Baxter trying to pronounce the name.

"He is a samurai rabbit from medieval Japan in a parallel dimension of Earth with animals in place of humans as the dominant species," explained Donatello. "He stayed here with Obinto, a friend of Splinter's until we were able to find his world again and send him back to it which was just a year ago."

"The dude has mondo samurai skills far superior to our own," added Michelangelo

They went into Donatello's lab and found the trans-dimensional teleporter. Donatello turned it on and dialed in the code of Usagi's world and the image on the screen showed a furry white man-sized rabbit wearing ancient Japanese garb and sitting in a tranquil spot in a forest clearing playing on an oriental flute.

"So we've tuned into his world, now how are we going to get him to come to ours?" asked Barney.

"It's relatively simple," said Donatello. "We turn on the sound wave receiver and speak into this." He held up a small miniature microphone and tapped it twice before speaking into it. "Usagi, this is the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Please step through the portal."

Usagi suddenly stopped playing his flute and set it down. Then he stepped out of the picture and a second later he was standing right in front of them.

"Greetings my friends," said Usagi as he made a graceful bow to them all. "To what do I owe this unexpected invitation here?"

"Good to see you, Usagi," said Leonardo. "We've called you back here because we are about to be at war with Shredder and all of the enemies we have ever faced, many of which are very alien to you. We were hoping you could join us in our army against them and perhaps recruit those you have on your side in your own world."

"I shall do all I can to aid you in the war," Usagi promised, "and I will gather all of my brother rabbits as well as my good friends the bears, the beavers, and the foxes."

"Excellent!" said Michelangelo

Then Usagi bowed deeply to them and stepped again through the dimensional portal and vanished.

"Great! Now we've got a whole army of animals on our side," said Raphael.

"We need humans on our side too, you know?" said Leonardo.

"We can get April to announce it on the news," said Barney.

"Exactamondo!" said Michelangelo "But we're gonna need someone to lead them. Someone like Casey Jones."

"Who is he?" asked Baxter.

"He is sort of a crime-fighter who picked up his skills from medieval times," explained Leonardo. "And he is also kind of a psychotic."

"You mean he isn't safe?" asked Baxter uneasily.

"Who said anything about safe? Of course he isn't safe," said Leonardo. "But he is still a good guy and a friend of ours and in this situation we'll need all the friends we can get."

So Donatello dialed Casey Jones' number on his turtle-com and soon the image appeared in the screen receiver of a man with long wavy black hair wearing a hockey mask over his face. He spoke in a rough voice.

"It's you Turtles again! What do you need me for?" he asked with a hint of annoyance. "It better be important because I've got crime to fight."

"We know and we need you to help us in fighting the biggest crime of them all," explained Donatello. "Remember the Shredder? He is as we are speaking assembling an armada of warriors from Dimension X and who knows where else to war against us. And now we need all of the humans on our side to join forces. And we want you to lead them when the time comes."

"Really? Well, in that case I'm ready to assist!" said Casey enthusiastically. "Will I get to break something?"

"When the right time comes," said Donatello. "And you must promise us you'll only do so when we say and be on your best behavior."

"You have my word," said Casey.

Then Donatello dialed a new number into his turtle-com

"Who are you calling now?" asked Baxter.

"The Punk Frogs," Donatello replied. "They are our mutant cousins. They were on the Shredder's side at first but they joined us when we showed them we were in the right. Just like you."

The image of a dark green frog face appeared in the screen receiver and it spoke in a mild Southern accent.

"Well, shut my mouth wide open! It's our Turtle cousins!"

"Hey Napoleon," said Donatello. "Remember the Shredder?"

"How could I forget him? He was the one who mutated us in the first place and I still have the affects of the genetic corrupting formula from when we last met," replied Napoleon Bonafrog.

"Well, now you may have a chance to use those affects for a good purpose," said Donatello. "The Shredder is starting a war of invaders from Dimension X and we need you and your brothers to join us in combat."

"You can count on us, cousins!" said Napoleon.

"Now let's call my pal Bugman!" said Michelangelo eagerly.

"Who, or what, is Bugman?" asked Baxter curiously.

"His real name is Brick Bradley," explained Michelangelo "He was an ordinary guy until he got into an accident that merged his genes with a hundred insects. So now whenever he gets mad he mutates into a super human-insect hero dude! You gotta love it!"

"Hmm," said Baxter reflectively. "It seems he expresses his anger in a positive way. I wish I could have done the same."

Donatello dialed the number of Brick Bradley into his turtle-com and the image of a dashing man with slick blonde hair appeared in the receiving image.

"My old friends, the Ninja Turtles," said Brick. "I haven't heard from you in a long while. What can I do for you?"

"Yo, Brick," said Michelangelo "We need you to help us fight the Shredder again. He is starting a war on Earth that could end it as we know it if we don't defeat him once and for all."

"I'm with you all the way," said Brick.

"Who is there left to call?" asked Baxter."

"Muckman," said Leonardo. "He and his pal Joe Eyeball were garbage men before they had a tank of mutagen dumped on them that mutated their genes with the garbage they had on them and now they're mutant heroes."

Donatello dialed Muckman's number into the turtle-com and within seconds a gruesome green face appeared on the image receiver.

"Hey, Turtles! Long time no see! What do we owe the pleasure of this call?" asked Muckman.

"We need you to fight in a war against the Shredder and all of Dimension X," said Donatello.

"Then have no fear, Muckman is here!" said Muckman eagerly.

"Hey, and don't forget Joe Eyeball!" said a short green creature on his back with long protruding eyes.

"That's everyone," said Leonardo. "Now let's hope for the best. And alert the world."

* * *

Baxter and Barney entered the Channel Six building and stepped into the main office where they asked for April O'Neil.

"April is in her office typing," said Burne as he directed them to April's office.

They thanked him and went into the office he had directed them to. However when they entered they found not April but Vernon sitting at her desk.

"Excuse me, but where is April O'Neil?" asked Baxter.

"How should I know?"asked Vernon. "But I'm a reporter myself so as long as you're talking to me you may as well tell me why you're here."

"Vernon!" snapped April as she appeared in the doorway.

Vernon suddenly jumped up and came out from behind the desk. "Oh! Hello April!" he said nervously.

"Why are you sitting at my desk again?" April demanded.

"Why, I was just keeping it warm in your absence," Vernon said with feigned innocence.

Vernon quickly left the room and April sat at her desk again and addressed the Stockman brothers.

"So, what can I do for you gentlemen?"

"I hate to say so, but Shredder is plotting a war against the world and the Turtles," said Baxter. "The Turtles are arming all of the friends they have in close contact with, and now we would like you to alert the rest of the world."

So April did so that very evening. Giving a live worldwide broadcast report she appeared on screen and spoke into her microphone.

"This is April O'Neil with Channel Six News. Many of you may remember the evil Shredder and his endless plots to conquer. Now he is aiming for war and you must alert your local police, fire department, army, coastguard, and anyone else whom you think can be of help in this time of crisis. Rest assured that the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are in preparation as of now."

Later Baxter and Barney sat with April and Irma in a small coffee shop in town. The two women had invited him to come along as a means of getting to know each other more and they willingly agreed to it. Baxter sat stirring two lumps of sugar into his coffee with a most thoughtful expression on his face.

"What are you thinking about, Mr. Stockman?" asked Irma.

He looked up and said, "First, please just call me Baxter, Irma. And I'm just thinking about how when I was a fly mutant the only thing I ever had on my mind was revenge, revenge against everyone and everything, even the ones who had done me no wrong. And now that back to normal I don't care about revenge anymore. I just want to start my life over and get back on track with myself and my brother. And now we're about to have a war which I feel I must participate in and hopefully put a final end to my former master the Shredder for good. I suppose now I'm fighting the good fight just as the Turtles always have."

"And so you are," said Barney. "Science must never be used for evil if its to maintain its reputation."

"I remember I joined the scientific community originally to make the world a better place as any scientist wants to do," Baxter added reflectively.

"Well," said April. "Here's to a good fight that must be won over for a good cause." She lifted her cup and everyone did the same and they clinked them together before drinking from them.


	6. Chapter 6

The next day Baxter came to the Turtles lair to meet with their friends who would be fighting in the upcoming war. First he met Casey Jones. He felt intimidated by the sight of him at first but the Turtles had assured him he was to be among their greatest allies and so he stepped up to him and shook his hand which had the strongest and toughest grip he had ever felt.

"How do you do, Mr. Jones?" he said as politely as he could. "I hear you're an expert at fighting crime."

"And you better believe it," said Casey. "I have yet to meet any lawbreaker who hasn't gotten past me."

_Then it was a good thing I didn't meet you when I was working with Shredder, _Baxter thought to himself.

Next he met with Muckman. His nose wrinkled slightly when he got close to him and after he shook hands with him he carefully wiped off his hand with his handkerchief inside the pocket of his lab coat.

"It's nice to meet you," said Muckman heartily. "Any friend of the Turtles is a friend of mine and Joe's."

Then he met with Brick Bradley who also had quite a strong handshake as though he could feel the super insect strength inside of him.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Stockman," Brick said. "I've heard you were once turned into a fly but you caused bad with it instead of good which disappoints me I'll admit."

"Well, it's a little different with you," Baxter said calmly. "You turn into Bugman only when you need to but I hated being a fly all of the time, it made me feel like a misfit more than I ever had and I guess that was why I went so wrong."

Next he met with the Punk Frogs and shook their green hands in turn without hesitation as he was familiar with how an amphibian's skin feels.

"Salutations, Professor!" said Napoleon. "I've always wanted to meet a real scientist."

"You know," said Donatello thoughtfully after everyone had been introduced. "With the exception of Bugman all of you here once thought we were the bad guys and now we're all friends just as it should be."

"Which reminds me of something I have been thinking about a lot lately," said Splinter.

"About what, Sensei?" asked Leonardo.

"About the Rat King," said Splinter calmly.

"What about him?" asked Raphael frowning.

"I've been wondering if we could turn Baxter and these others on our side then perhaps we could turn him onto our side also," replied Splinter.

"Who is the Rat King?" asked Baxter curiously.

"He is something of a next-door neighbor to us," Raphael replied distastefully. "He lives in the sewers near to us and he calls himself the King of the rats because he can communicate psychically with vermin and with a magic flute. And he is really, really bad! He once tried to turn Master Splinter against us!"

"That may have been true but I have forgiven him," said Splinter.

"You have? But why would you, Master?" asked Raphael in surprise.

"Because being a rat myself I see someone who can communicate with the smaller part of my family as a noble thing," replied Splinter. "And do you not remember the time when he helped you to rescue April when she had been kidnapped?"

"Yes, I do remember," said Raphael thoughtfully.

"So there may be a chance he has some good in him and so we may use that good to help us in this time of war."

"I believe Master Splinter may be right, guys," said Leonardo. "Remember that we need to use all of the friends we can get now."

"Exactly," said Splinter.

So Splinter and the Turtles along with Baxter ventured down through the sewer tunnels until they finally found the domain of the Rat King. He frowned when he saw them and eyed Splinter with interest.

"Well, if it isn't the Turtles and their master," he said. "To what do I owe this unexpected visit? Have you come to surrender to me at last, Splinter?"

"No, Your Highness," said Splinter with surprising respect. "We have come to see you because we think you may be of some assistance to us now?"

"You do? And what exactly for?" asked the Rat King suspiciously.

"We are about to be at war with the Shredder and all of his minions," Splinter explained. "We were hoping you and your loyal subjects could assist us in defending our world and defeating our enemies."

"But don't you regard me as your enemy also?" asked the Rat King rather angrily.

"Well, we have in the past," said Leonardo. "But there was a time when you helped us once, remember?"

"Hmm... Yes I do remember I had my subjects track down your human friend April," said the Rat King.

"Well, what did helping us feel to you?" asked Donatello.

"Well, it actually felt rather good I'll admit," said the Rat King a bit uneasily.

"And I believe that helping us now will feel even more good if you'll just let yourself do the right thing," said Splinter.

"This isn't a trick, is it?" asked the Rat King still rather unconvinced.

"You can trust the Turtles," said Baxter. "Believe me I used to be enemies with them as well but they showed me immense kindness and compassion and now I realize they are good, and if I can then anyone can, in my opinion."

The Rat King thought silently for a a few moments and then said, "Well, I would love to assist you except for one thing. My subjects are so small they could be crushed easily during the battles."

"But if they were the size of men like Master Splinter is they could really put up a good fight," said Donatello. "If only if we had some of that mutagen."

"You know, I think maybe I could be able to mix up some of the mutagen and create an army of rats for Splinter to teach and for His Majesty to lead," said Baxter.

"What a brilliant idea!" said Splinter. "What do you think, Your Highness?"

"I guess I'll agree to it as long as you all promise you won't betray us, me and my loyal subjects," replied the Rat King with a severe look."

"We promise we won't as long as you promise you won't betray us," said Splinter."

"Deal," said the Rat King and he and Splinter shook hands in agreement.

When they got back to the Turtles lair, Donatello noticed a slight humming noise and frequency wave was coming from the trans-dimensional portal.

"Someone must be trying to get in," said Leonardo. "Turn on the monitor."

So Donatello did and they saw in the screen the image of three figures all with hairstyles and clothing that was so cool it was totally out of this world.

"Hey! It's the Neutrinos!" exclaimed Michelangelo happily.

"They're the good guys of Dimension X," Leonardo explained to Baxter.

Donatello pulled the lever down and the Neutrinos stepped out of the portal and into their presence.

"Michelangelo! I missed you!" exclaimed Calla as she hugged Michelangelo

"I missed you, too, Calla," said Michelangelo as he hugged her back.

"Hey, all you cool-cats!" said Dask. "We heard about the Shredder's plot of starting a war and we decided we want to help you out."

"You do?" said Leonardo. "I thought you guys didn't like wars."

"We don't," said Zak. "But this is for a good cause that may end all of the war going on in your world and ours. So we've come to let you know we'll aid you in any way we can."

"Thanks, we appreciate it," said Leonardo.

"We'll go get all of our friends and all the weapons we can get to," said Dask. "See you later."

Then the Neutrinos stepped once again through the portal. Just then the Trans-Dimensional Portal started humming again and another image appeared on the screen. They saw Usagi holding his longest and sharpest sword with a whole army of human-like animals behind him. Among them were bears, foxes, and beavers.

"Whoa! Cool assembly you got there, Usagi my bunny man!" exclaimed Michelangelo impressively.

"I know it isn't much, but it's the best I could do on such short notice," said Usagi modestly.

"Why, it's excellent!" said Leonardo. "There is one small problem though. Many of the weapons Shredder and his minions will use will extremely advanced and foreign to all of you."

"But I think I could do something about that," said Baxter. "With the help of my brother and Donatello, of course."

"What can we do?" asked Donatello.

"We can build our own newly advanced weapons for them and for all of you to use in battle," said Baxter enthusiastically.

"It sounds like a good idea to me," said Donatello. "What do you think, Usagi?"

"I suppose it's for the best," agreed the samurai rabbit. "Provided of course you show us how to use them."

Baxter wrote out his plans for the new weapons and machines and then he went out and bought many parts and equipment which he and the others would need to build them.

Later in the evening as he was walking back to his brother's apartment, which he was staying at, and just happened to bump into Irma as she was walking in the opposite direction.

"Oh, I beg your pardon, Irma," said Baxter as they both started. "I didn't see you coming."

"Nice to see you again, Mr. St – I mean Baxter," said Irma. "What are all those papers you're carrying?"

"These are my blueprints for the new weapons and machinery to be used in the oncoming war," he explained. "I'm on my way home to go over them with Barney."

"I never thought I'd live to see another war after growing up during the Vietnam war," said Irma reflectively. "

"Neither did I," admitted Baxter. "But I just want to do the right thing now."

"If you don't mind me asking, what were you like before you turned into a fly?"asked Irma.

Baxter sighed regretfully. "All of my life I've been picked on, not just by Shredder but by practically everyone I've ever known from school bullies to fellow scientists who mocked by calling me mad and foolish which wasn't fair because all of my life I've wanted to be a scientist and as I learned more and more about science I vowed to one day to achieve perfection and become a world renowned scientist. But look at how miserably I failed at it."

Irma put her hand gently on his shoulder. "But no one is perfect," she told him. "That is the way of life, to just do the best that you can do and hope things will turn out alright. I myself when I was younger used to want to be a Cryptozoic-zoologist but my mother always wanted me to become a psychologist like she herself was, and as it turned out I became a reporter's assistant when life threw a curve at me."

"I do know how life can do that to you," said Baxter. "Look at how my life has turned out so far. All because I wanted to achieve more than I could."

"You know, I remember something that my father used to say to me when I was growing up," said Irma. "'If what you have is all you can get just keep on trying to get more'."

Baxter smiled feebly. "You know, my own father used to say something similar to me when I was growing up. But I guess I forgot it, and maybe I chose to forget. You see, after he was killed in a tragic accident everything in my life seemed to just fall apart." He sighed. "I still miss him terribly."

"And now you just want to do all you can that would've made him proud of you," Irma said, her eyes full of understanding.

Baxter nodded

"Well," said Irma, "I think that if he could see you now with what you're doing he'd be the proudest father of all."


	7. Chapter 7

At the same time that the Turtles were planning their defense so was the Shredder planning his attack.

"Blast that city's news reporter!" he exclaimed in rage when he had seen April's newscast on the monitor alerting everyone to the defense. "Well, those pathetic humans may have their own weapons and means of defense but we have more on our side. Krang, bring out the Foot Soldiers!"

"I'd hate to admit this," said Krang. "But after so many battles with the Turtles already we have only a few dozen of them left over."

"Blast! That outnumbers us of the human army by many!" Shredder cursed.

"But then of course we could always make more," said Krang.

"But there's not enough time!" exclaimed the Shredder in agitation.

"Well, we could always clone them into a thousand or so," said Krang.

"Hmm... A most excellent idea I'll admit," said Shredder. "But we don't have a cloning device."

"We do now," said Krang. "I just had Rocksteady and Bebop break into the top secret lab of physics and steal their cloning ray for us." Krang held up a strange looking device which resembled a ray gun and a miniature satellite.

"Splendid!" exclaimed Shredder in triumph. "Now we'll an army of Foot Soldiers that outnumbers those measly humans! But we may need more allies for us to take care of the obstacles those wretched Turtles throw in our way," he added thoughtfully. "And I know just who to call first!"

He went to the trans-dimensional portal and set it to Dimension X. "General Tragg, this is Shredder! Come in!" he commanded. Almost immediately the face of a man sized rock creature wearing a general's helmet appeared on the screen.

"Hello, Master Shredder," greeted the General. "How may I be of assistance to you now?"

"You can gather all of your troops to be transported to Planet Earth where they may fight the humans and Turtles in a war I have planned that will decide the fate between me and my old enemies," said the Shredder.

"Very well, Master," General Tragg just before he signed off

Next Shredder relocated the trans-dimensional communicator and honed into another old servant of his.

"Slash! Come in, Slash, evil Mutant Turtle of Dimension X!" Then on the screen appeared the face of a rather deformed looking turtle that somewhat resembled the hero Turtles of Earth.

"What does Master want?" asked the evil Turtle.

"I want you to join me once again in my fight against your enemies, the Turtles of the Earth," the Shredder stated.

"Will there be any pizza in it for me?" demanded Slash.

"Certainly," said Shredder. "When we succeed in victory you can have all of the pizza, and all of the palm trees, you want."

"Then count me in!" exclaimed Slash, flashing his Shaolin swords.

The Shredder chuckled evilly as he tuned in the portal to a new location. This time the image of two mutant insects appeared on the screen. One resembled a giant ant and one looked like a large cockroach.

"Well, if it isn't the Shredder again!" exclaimed the cockroach. "What do you want with us now?"

"Anthrax, Scum-bug," said the Shredder addressing the mutant insects. "I want you both to aid me in a war being fought against the Turtles and also one who has turned against me and used to be one of your race."

"Really? Well, we'll gladly assist you in ridding the world of measly humans and turtles, as long as you promise we insects shall rule alongside you," said the mutant cockroach known as Scum-bug

"I promise," the Shredder lied. "You may take some credit and rule some of the world with me."

As soon as Shredder signed them off he tuned in the portal again, only this time it was to Planet Earth in a remote swamp in Florida.

"Leatherhead, come in! This is the Shredder speaking!"

Soon the face of a giant mutant alligator appeared on the screen "Shredder!" he said in Cajun accent. "What can I do for you?"

"You can help me to destroy the Turtles and take over the Earth. We are now facing our biggest war of all," said the Shredder.

"Hmm... Will I get to also destroy the Punk Frogs by any chance?" asked Leatherhead hopefully.

"Of course you will," assured the Shredder. "As I am sure they will no doubt be involved with the Turtles defense."

"Then count me in, my leader!" agreed Leatherhead.

"And now, last but not least, to call Lord Dregg for his assistance," said the Shredder as he tuned into his Dimension X superior on the portal.

The face of an alien Lord appeared on the screen. "Shredder! You had better have a good excuse for interrupting me in my planning to conquer the Earth!" Lord Dregg said irritably.

"I do indeed, My Lord," Shredder assured. "I want you to be my partner in conquering the Earth and we'll start with defeating the Turtles and all who is on their side. I also would appreciate if you would enlist many of your minions also."

"Hmm... Well, since we are each fighting for the same cause and have been for years I suppose now is the right time for us to join forces," said Lord Dregg agreeing. "I shall break all of my minions and servants out of prison and enlist them in our war."

"Excellent! You won't regret this, My Lord," the Shredder said.

"I had better not," said Lord Dregg as he signed off.

"Well that's everyone," said the Shredder rubbing his hands together.

"Hey, what about us, Boss?" asked Rocksteady, not wanting to be left out.

The Shredder looked at Rocksteady and Bebop and tried to think of how these two bumbling mutants could aid him in such a time.

"The best way you can help me is by staying out of the way!" the Shredder declared with annoyance.

"Aw, but Boss!" whined Rocksteady. "Don't you remember when we became Rhino Man and Mighty Hog and we used our super strength to run against the Turtles? Can't we do that again?"

"Hmm," the Shredder thought about this for a moment. "Well, I do suppose we'll need all the assistance we can get, so alright, you can have your super powers back."

"Gee, thanks, Boss!" exclaimed Bebop.

* * *

Back in the Turtles lair, Baxter had just finished mixing together the right chemicals to make the mutagen.

"All done. Now I promise you, Your Highness, this will not hurt your subjects at all," he said to the Rat King.

And so saying he poured the mutagen into an eye-dropper and placed a single drop onto one of the rats the Rat King had brought. Instantly the little rodent began to glow an eerie green color and then it began to grow taller and taller until it was fully as tall as Splinter and also stood up on its hind legs.

Baxter then repeated this with each one of the many rats until there was a full sized army of manlike mutant rats before them.

"Excellent!" said the Rat King well pleased. "Now with Splinter's training we can certainly defeat the Shredder."

"Come with me, my new students," said Splinter to the rats. "Let us begin your training in the fine art of ninjitsu."

While Splinter led the rats to where they would have enough room to train and practice. Baxter and Barney turned to the Turtles and handed them out their specially designed weapons.

"Now, before I forget," said Baxter. "Here are your weapons which we have enhanced just for this occasion. Donatello, here is a bow staff with a special secret weapon inside of it which will be unleashed should the bow be broken in two. Michelangelo, here are nun-chucks that hit as hard as heavy weight ones in spite of their minimal size. Raphael, here are sais' that through off electric sparks at the enemy. Last, but not least, Leonardo, here is a sword that is controlled by remote and should it get broken it will explode."

"Gosh, thanks Baxter, these should come in very handy," said Leonardo.

"And now," Baxter continued. "If you'll step out this way I'll show you the new high-tech machines me and Barney and Donatello have constructed for your benefit."

He lead them outside into the sewer tunnels and showed them first a large truck which resembled a garbage truck from the front.

"This one is for Muckman," said Baxter. "It will allow him to pick up garbage and then throw it onto his enemies."

"That is way cool!" said Muckman.

Next Baxter showed them another large truck with a set of giant sized metal boxing glove fists attached to it on all sides.

"This one is for Casey Jones," Baxter explained. "As I know he loves to break things this will enable him to break anything that comes in his path and also to knock out his enemies."

"This is just what I always wanted! It's beautiful!" exclaimed Casey in delight.

"And here is the Turtle Tank," said Baxter, gesturing to a giant sized metal tank with many guns and cannons around it and a top and bottom that looked almost exactly like a turtle's shell. "It is called that because it can resist any attack on it just by closing up in its shell," Baxter explained.

"Whoa! Now that is what I call awesome, dudes!" said Michelangelo

"And over here is what I call the Hopper," said Baxter gesturing to machine truck in the shape of large frog. "Made especially for the Punk Frogs it can leap long distances, jump high in the air and if it lands on anyone of anything it will trigger a semi-explosion."

"Now we can really play leap frog with the Shredder under us!" exclaimed Napoleon.

"Now, last but not least, here are the new highly advanced ray guns for Usagi and his army," Baxter concluded as he gave each animal warrior a ray gun. "These will do everything you want them to do and more," said Baxter, clearly proud of his handiwork.

"Thanks, Baxter and Barney," said Donatello. "We couldn't have accomplished all of this and in such a short time without you guys."

"Now we had better get ourselves ready," said Leonardo seriously. "I heard from Shredder on the TV that he plans to attack tonight at midnight."


	8. Chapter 8

"Well, it's a half hour till midnight," said Leonardo as he looked at the clock in his turtle-com "And the sooner we get out there the better."

"Are you ready, Master?" asked Donatello.

"Yes, the rat army is now trained to fight," said Splinter coming out with the army of rats close behind him.

"You coming with us, Baxter?" asked Leonardo.

"Not yet," replied Baxter. "I'm still working on a very special invention which requires much effort."

"Alright," said Leonardo. "Remember you can probably keep track of what is going on through the news broadcast on TV."

"Come on, dudes! Let's haul shell!" exclaimed Michelangelo

The Turtles and the rat army and the rest of their friends hurried through the sewer tunnel and came out through a manhole in the middle of the street where they waited for Shredder's armada to make it's appearance.

And sure enough at midnight it did. The sky turned bright red as a portal opened up within it and out of it ravaged a whole army of Foot Soldiers, and also swarms of aliens from Dimension X, and hordes of rock creatures led by General Tregg, and Slash, Leatherhead, and Anthrax with Scum-bug could also be seen.

"Blast! It's the Turtles!" exclaimed the Shredder unnerved. "Foot Soldiers, attack!"

"Turtles fight with honor!" exclaimed Leonardo as they leapt into battle.

Then the war began. The Turtles jumped on and struck at the robotic Foot Soldiers with their new and improved weapons. Donatello was able to knock them to the ground with his bow staff, and Michelangelo was able to knock them out with his nun-chucks, and Leonardo was able to slash them through with his sword, and Raphael was able to short circuit their controls before he cut them with his electric sais.

Along with the Turtles, the Rat King's army of ninja rats were also fighting hard. They bit and clawed at the foot soldiers and knocked their weapons out of their clutches thus making it all the easier for them to be taken down by the Turtles.

Usagi and his followers were also on the attack with the Foot Soldiers. They blasted them with their high-tech ray guns and cut them through with the sword blades inside the guns when they got too close. Some of the Foot Soldiers also had ray guns but Usagi and his brothers knew how to hop over their blasts as any samurai rabbit knows how to do.

Then suddenly one of the bears of Usagi's army got hit by a blast from a Foot Soldier's ray gun. He fell to the ground not killed but severely wounded nevertheless. Usagi seeing this was enraged and responded to it by unleashing all of the blades inside his ray gun making it look more like Swiss Army knife and jumped right into the foot soldiers slashing them many at one time.

"Join me, my brothers and friends!" Usagi called out fiercely. "Let us avenge the wrongdoing to our follower!"

His army quickly followed his example and before long not a single foot soldier was left standing.

"Uh... Boss, the Foot Soldiers have been defeated," said Bebop.

"I can see that!" the Shredder yelled irritably. "But the war is far from over! Rock Soldiers, attack!"

Then the Rock Soldiers, led by General Tragg, were on the attack. They were of course so big and powerful that sword blades couldn't cut through them, but the ray guns that Usagi and his followers held were quite able to blast off bits of them whenever they fired.

The Turtles quickly piled into the Turtle Tank and began shooting at the Rock Soldiers with all of the missiles inside the tank. In this way they were able to take down many of the rock soldiers at a time.

Rasputin of the Punk Frogs also helped out by firing his exploding arrows at the rock soldiers. With these he blasted apart their whole bodies with one blow.

"Look out, Rasputin!" exclaimed Genghis Frog. "Here comes the rock General!"

Sure enough, General Tragg was stomping up to the Punk Frogs when he saw what they were doing to his troops.

Rasputin took his last arrow dart and fired it at the General and the impact went right into his chest and his head and limbs were blown off and scattered in all directions.

When the few remaining rock soldier saw their General was finished off they surrendered and retreated back through the portal.

"Uh... I hate to admit it, Boss. But it looks like the good guys are winning," said Rocksteady.

"You dare say that to me!" shouted the Shredder enraged. "We still have Lord Dregg's army!"

So now the Army led by Lord Dregg was on the attack. Most of them had high-tech alien guns and throw bombs which created great holes in the ground whenever they hit. The Turtles, Rats, Punk Frogs, and Usagi's army all fought them with all of the weapons they possessed.

Muckman had gotten into his new Garbage Dumper Truck and had found a large dumpster which he picked up and took as much garbage as his truck would hold out of it and then hurried forward into the ongoing war.

"Muckman fights with garbage!" he exclaimed as he reached the horde of warriors from Dimension X and dumped all of the garbage onto them.

Many of them lost their weapons in this way which made them much more vulnerable to the attackers and a few had dropped their bombs in their shock and blown up.

Casey Jones, who had been helping out with the Foot Soldiers, and then the Rock Soldiers with his new Break-Boxing Truck, now swung forward toward the warriors from Dimension X who had not been doused in the garbage dump, which was actually quite a few.

"The law must always be abided by!" declared Casey as he took a mighty swing at Lord Dregg's army. "And now you must suffer the consequences!" And with that he unleashed his powerful fists of iron into the the Dimension X army, knocking them out and many of them were flung into the air far and some of them landed into the ocean.

"No! This cannot be!" exclaimed Lord Dregg when he saw how many of his warriors had fallen.

Just then Casey Jones took another swing at socked Lord Dregg in the back with a blow so hard and swift it knocked high through the air and sent him spiraling through the portal and back into Dimension X.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the Stockman's apartment, Baxter was still busily working on his invention and at the moment he seemed to be running short on both luck and time with it. He sighed as he sat back restlessly and wiped the perspiration from his forehead with his handkerchief.

Just then there was a knock on the door. "Come in," he called wearily.

Irma stepped inside. "There's a an all-out war going on out there," she said. "I just came by to see how you're doing."

"I'm not sure if I'm doing very well," Baxter replied, wiping his forehead again. "I can't seem to figure this machine out."

"What exactly is it anyway?" asked Irma.

"It's meant to be a sort of mini-plane that is shaped and moves like a fly does," explained Baxter. "Which is why it is proving so troublesome for me. I just can't seem to get the right combustibles for the engine to make the wings work right. Perhaps I'm losing my touch. Maybe it was a crazy idea and I should just give it up."

"No, never give up anything you try," urged Irma. "You just need to relax and let your inspiration come to you if you can't find it. I know you can do it because I see in you more intelligence than I have seen in anyone I've ever known before."

Baxter looked up at Irma. "Do you really mean that?" he asked hopefully.

"Of course I do. It was true from the moment I met you," she replied.

The two of them shared a look into each others' eyes for a moment and then there was a faint buzzing noise in the air and Baxter's eyes moved as a tiny flew past in-between them. And then suddenly he knew what he had to do.

"I've got it!" he exclaimed.

"You keep working on it, now I must get back to Channel Six," said Irma.


	9. Chapter 9

"Well, don't just stand here, you fools! Get in there and fight!" the Shredder ordered of Rocksteady and Bebop.

"Sure thing, Boss," said Bebop. He and Rocksteady took off through the air being powered by their jet packs and aimed their super laser guns down below them.

"You too, Leatherhead," added the Shredder to the mutant alligator. "Destroy those Punk Frogs!"

"It will be my pleasure, Master Shredder!" said Leatherhead.

Leatherhead jumped out in front of the Punk Frogs which quite caught them by surprise.

"At last, I shall be able to bite off your legs and fry them!" Leatherhead exclaimed licking his chops.

"Not without a fight, you won't be able to!" declared Attila the Frog.

"We'll see about that!" said Leatherhead evilly. He took out a stun gun which the Shredder had loaned him especially for this occasion and with one blast he had stunned all of the Punk Frogs into stillness.

He opened his mouth very wide and was just about to take a bite out of one of them when suddenly he felt himself being knocked over backward with great force. He looked up and saw Donatello before him with his bow staff in hand.

"That wasn't fair," said Leatherhead angrily.

"Well, that wasn't very fair, either!" declared Donatello pointing to the still stunned Punk Frogs. "Now to get to them you'll have to get past me and my bow!"

Leatherhead gave a loud demented laugh. "Sure I will!" And with that he opened up his great jaws and bit the bow staff in half just as Donatello took a swing with it.

Unfortunately for Leatherhead though, the secret weapon inside of the bow staff was activated and it turned out to be a large bullet which shot into Leatherhead's throat and then it exploded. Leatherhead clutched at his throat a moment before falling to the ground in a lifeless heap.

The Punk Frogs by now had just recovered from being stunned. And they stared wide-eyed at the dead giant alligator before them.

"Oh my croaks!" exclaimed Napoleon. "Leatherhead has just bit the big one!"

"Yep, thanks to this and the secret weapon Baxter installed in it," said Donatello with great satisfaction.

"Now, if you'll excuse us, cousin," said Napoleon. "We've got to make ourselves useful again and head into the Hopper!"

The Punk Frogs piled into the frog shaped vehicle built by the Stockman brothers and took off hopping down the into battle.

Meanwhile, Bugman had been watching from high above as Anthrax and Scum-bug ate away at all the garbage that Muckman had thrown onto the warriors of Dimension X and thus helping them to get free. The warriors who had survived now began fighting with the Rats and Turtles again. Bugman was enraged that his own kind would be taking sides with the Shredder and he knew what he must do.

He sent out a telepathic mind control air wave to them through his antenna and commanded them to stop what they were doing and step into the path of the approaching vehicle being driven by the Punk Frogs/

Anthrax and Scum-bug did so and sure enough the Hopper hopped right onto them and on impact there was a great explosion which squashed them flatter than pancakes.

"Yum! It looks like we'll be having cockroach and ant pancakes for breakfast!" said Napoleon happily.

While all this was going on, Super Rocksteady and Mighty Bebop had been flying through the air attacking from above, but soon they themselves were having to dodge their own attacks being fired at them by the Neutrinos who were flying in their star cruisers and shooting rays at them..

When one shot finally managed to hit Rocksteady's jet back it's fuel broke and he started to fall.

Meanwhile, on top of the roof of the Channel Six building, April and Irma along with Vernon were filing the battles from a safe place, at least safe until now when Rocksteady landed on it in front of them.

"Yikes! It's Rocksteady!" exclaimed April, though she kept on filming.

"Oh no! Somebody save us!" exclaimed Irma.

"Forget about you! Somebody save me!" exclaimed Vernon as he headed for the stairs.

"I'll save you, dudettes!" came Raphael's voice as he swung up onto the roof by his turtle hook.

Then Raphael and Rocksteady began to fight with the turtle's electric sais' and the rhino's laser gun. Raphael managed to dodge all of the blasts from Rocksteady's gun and then finally as he stuck his hand with both sais' the rhino lost his grip on the gun and fell from his clutches.

Raphael promptly picked up the gun. "Hah! You've just lost, horn-nose!" Raphael exclaimed in triumph.

Rocksteady's face turned very red and he charged forward at the ninja turtle. "I'll show you!" he roared.

Raphael saw what was coming and quickly leapt out of the way so that Rocksteady continued charging forward with his arms outstretched and ended up pushing Irma, who was standing just a bit too close to the edge of the roof, out of his way.

"Irma!" April exclaimed in horror as she quickly turned the camera.

"Help!" Irma screamed as she continued her long descent down the side of the Channel Six building. Then suddenly she heard a mechanical buzzing noise and then she felt herself being caught in-between a pair of metallic arms.

She looked up and to her surprise and relief she saw Baxter in the driver's seat of the mini-plane which had the appearance of a giant fly and wings which worked in the same way. Baxter smiled as he reached down and she took his hand as he pulled her up into the passenger seat beside him.

"Thanks, Baxter," she said. "I'll never forget this."

"Don't mention it," he replied. "Now let's deal with those two goons."

Baxter pushed a set of buttons on the controls and a set of two protons shot out of the mouth of the fly plane and then out of it shot a gooey green substance.

"What is that stuff?" asked Irma curiously.

"It's mutagen," explained Baxter.

The mutagen then struck Rocksteady, who had fallen off of the Channel Six building and into the Garbage Dumper Truck being driven by Muckman, and also Bebop who had just had his jet pack shot and fallen into it also. Then almost immediately as the mutagen was on them their bodies devolved back into the humans that they used to be, and rendering them only half as strong.

"Uh oh! The Boss is not gonna like this!" said Bebop.

"That was so excellent, Baxter!" exclaimed Irma.

"It sure was, bro," said Barney as he flew up alongside of them. "Now watch some real mutation devolvement!"

Down below them, Michelangelo was in combat with Slash, the evil turtle from Dimension X. He was swinging his nun-chucks at him but was missing every time, mostly on account of having to dodge Slash's attacks with his Shaolin sword. Then at last he managed to strike the sword and the impact broke it in two. Slash was so enraged at this he threw down the pieces and charged at Michelangelo

"Ready! Aim! Fire!" Barney fired another blast of mutagen down in Slash's direction from high above.

The mutagen hit Slash just as he grabbed onto Michelangelo and he was quickly turned back into an ordinary little turtle.

Michelangelo smiled as he sat up and picked Slash up in his hand. "Dude, you'll make a nice pet for me to keep!" he said.

"Excellent, bro!" Baxter exclaimed as he and Barney gave each other a high five in midair.

The Shredder, angered at seeing how many of his followers had been finished off in battle, now drew his own sword and stepped out into the war field.

"Now who dares to challenge me!" he demanded.

"I will, Oroko Saki!" declared Splinter as he leapt out in front of Shredder, brandishing a sword which Leonardo had loaned him.

"You dare to call me by my real name, Hymoto Yoshi!" the Shredder yelled.

"Yes, I dare to," replied Splinter. "For years I have waited for this moment, to teach you a lesson in using your skills and intelligence in the wrong way. You were once my student, remember? I taught you all I knew and one day you surpassed me and I never expected you to turn on me and betray me and all I'd taught you."

"And for that you hate me as I hate you?" asked the Shredder mockingly.

"Sometimes, I admit," said Splinter. "But most of the time I just pity you."

"You pity me!" exclaimed the Shredder in surprise.

"Yes, I pity you for who you might have been had you chosen the right path," said Splinter. "But it was yours to choose and now we shall see who has the stronger heart between us."

The Shredder gave a deep maniacal laugh and said, "Alright, Yoshi! You will soon perish as the rat you are and always have been."

Then Shredder and Splinter began a fierce sword fight. It wasn't long before Shredder's sword broke off the blade of Splinter's. However, just as Shredder was about to claim his victory, the secret weapon inside of the sword activated while Splinter was still aiming it at Shredder's chest. It turned out to be a hand grenade which went off and knocked Shredder backward and fell just as the Hopper being driven by the Punk Frogs was approaching.

Then there was another loud explosion as the Shredder's demented life of evilness came to end.

The Punk Frogs got out of their vehicle as did the Turtles who had just approached, while at Usagi's and the Rat King's army also gathered around the scene. At the same time Baxter, Barney, and Irma flew down and witnessed what had just happened.

"He's... He's... g-g-g-gone!" Michelangelo muttered in almost a whisper of awe.

"Yes, he is," said Splinter. "Now and forevermore."

"No doubt this is the story of the twenty-first century which has only just begun!" April exclaimed triumphantly from her spot on the Channel Six building.


	10. Chapter 10

The next evening the Turtles and their Master were gathered in the parlor of their lair watching April's broadcast of the bygone war on their TV set.

"And so the evil Shredder was at last defeated thanks to the many brave heroes who fought against him in the war, namely the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, bringing to rest any remaining doubt that they were on the good side," April said as the screen showed images from the war, ending with a closeup of the Turtles.

"Well, now that Shredder is finally gone and done with, what's to become of us now?" asked Michelangelo

"We'll still be needed in the city," Leonardo assured them. "After all, there will always be other crimes, other problems."

"Well, now I think the time is right to start working towards our citizenship," declared Raphael.

They all agreed to this, including Splinter.

At the same time the Rat King had been watching the broadcast on his own TV, surrounded by his faithful subjects who were still fully the size of himself.

"You know," he said thoughtfully as he watched the scenes of his subjects fighting fiercely in the war being replayed, "I think I no longer want to rule the world. I mean, after all, I've got all of you right here with me and we're all one big happy family down here."

Meanwhile, in the city prison, Bebop and Rocksteady were bemoaning the loss of the Shredder.

"Gee, what a way to go! I sure feel sorry for the Boss," said Bebop.

"So do I," added Rocksteady.

"Well, I don't," said Krang as he watched everything from the Technodrome. "I always knew someday Shredder's own foolishness and impracticality would be his undoing. But now what am I gonna do without him or Bebop and Rocksteady? I might as well just return to the old world and try to regain my position there."

Also, at Irma's apartment, Baxter and Irma were sitting on the sofa and watching the broadcast as well. Irma watched the scene of Baxter rescuing her in his fly plane and scooted slightly close to him so that they were close enough to hear each others breathing.

Baxter felt Irma's shoulder touch his slightly and felt suddenly warmer. He then felt there was something he had to ask her now. He thought on it for a moment and then cleared his throat slightly.

"Um... Are you doing anything tomorrow night?" he asked a bit hesitantly.

"No, nothing at all," replied Irma.

"Well, then, would you care to see a movie with me?" he asked slightly nervously.

"Sure, I'd love to," said Irma, leaning even closer so that now their heads were touching.

Baxter smiled and breathed a short sigh of satisfaction. Indeed it seemed his beginning life anew had just got off to a good start.


End file.
